Firefighting monitor

ABSTRACT

A firefighting monitor includes logic circuitry for determining the reaction force caused by the flow of firefighting fluid therethrough. The reaction force may be communicated to structures remote from the monitor for taking appropriate actions in response to the reaction forces exceeding one or more criteria. The monitor may also use flow and nozzle data for calculating a reach of the stream of the fluid, and may transmit this reach data to a remote location. The monitor may also utilize multiple pressure sensor transducers positioned inside the monitor for determining the rate of fluid flow, rather than a paddle wheel-type sensor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority and the benefit of provisionalapplication entitled FIREFIGHTING MONITOR, Ser. No. 61/297,013, filedJan. 21, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to firefighting equipment, andmore particularly to firefighting monitors that include improved sensorand control features.

Conventional firefighting monitors are used in a variety of differentapplications and environments to deliver firefighting fluid to a fire.In some applications, the firefighting monitors may be mounted todifferent locations on a fire truck, or to other mobile vehicles, suchas boats. In other applications, the monitors may be mounted tostationary structures. In still other applications, the monitor may notbe mounted to anything at all, but may be portably laid on the ground ata desired location. Regardless of the particular environment of themonitor, conventional monitors typically include one or more rotatablesections that allow the stream of firefighting fluid to be redirected todifferent locations through the movement of the one or more rotatablesections. In some monitors, the rotatable sections may be controlledelectronically from a remote location, allowing a firefighter toreposition the stream of firefighting fluid from a location removed fromthe monitor. Conventional monitors may also include a paddle wheelsensor adapted to detect a flow rate of the firefighting fluid flowingthrough the monitor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to firefighting monitors that includeimproved sensor and control features, as well as methods for using thefirefighting monitors. In one embodiment, the improved sensors allowmore accurate determinations of flow rate to be made. In otherembodiments, the reaction force generated by the flow of thefirefighting fluid is determined and utilized in controlling one or moreaspects of the monitor. In still other embodiments, the reach of thestream of firefighting fluid is determined with improved accuracy,thereby enabling more effective extinguishing of a fire. Other featuresand benefits are also provided by the various embodiments.

According to one aspect of the invention, a firefighting monitor isprovided that includes a body, a rotation sensor, a flow rate detector,and a controller. The body includes an inlet for receiving firefightingfluid and an outlet for discharging the firefighting fluid. The bodyincludes a tubular section that is rotatable about at least one axis.The rotation sensor measures the amount of rotation of the tubularsection about the axis. The flow rate detector determines a rate offluid flow through the monitor from the inlet to the outlet. Thecontroller is in communication with the rotation sensor and the flowrate sensor and determines an amount of force exerted by thefirefighting fluid onto the body in at least one direction based uponinformation received from the rotation sensor and the flow ratedetector.

According to another embodiment, a firefighting monitor is provided thatincludes a base, first and second sections, first and second pressuresensors, and a controller. The base includes an inlet for receivingfirefighting fluid. The first section is rotatably coupled to the baseand rotatable about a first axis. The second section is rotatablycoupled to the first section and rotatable about a second axis differentfrom the first axis. The second section selectively couples to a nozzlethrough which the firefighting fluid may be discharged. The firstpressure sensor detects a pressure of the firefighting fluid within themonitor at a first location. The second pressure sensor detects apressure of the firefighting fluid within the monitor at a secondlocation different from the first location. The controller communicateswith the first and second pressure sensors and determines a flow rate ofthe firefighting fluid flowing through the monitor based upon adifference between the pressures detected by the first and secondpressure sensors.

According to another aspect, a method of controlling a firefightingmonitor is provided. The method includes providing a monitor coupled toa structure, determining a flow rate of fluid through the monitor and anamount of force exerted by the fluid in at least one direction, anddetermining if the amount of force meets a criterion. If the force meetsthe criterion, the method further includes doing at least one of thefollowing: rotating at least one of the sections of the monitor untilthe amount of force no longer meets the criterion; reducing the flow offirefighting fluid through the monitor until the amount of force nolonger meets the criterion; moving the structure until the amount offorce no longer meets the criterion; and providing a warning to a userof the firefighting monitor that the criterion has been met.

According to still other aspects, the monitor may include a transmitterthat transmits to a remote receiver, either wirelessly or via wires, theamount of force exerted by the firefighting fluid. The controller maydetermine the amount of force in multiple directions, including two orthree directions, which may or may not be mutually perpendicular. Thecontroller may be housed within an enclosure physically coupled to themonitor, or it may be housed within an enclosure positioned remotelyfrom the monitor, or it may be divided to include some controlcomponents local to the monitor and other control components remote fromthe monitor. The controller may be further adapted to move a mobile boomto which it is attached based upon the determined amount of force, or itmay adjust either an orientation of the monitor or a flow rate of fluidbased upon the amount of force. The controller may also use informationpertaining to a nozzle orifice size and a nozzle position to determine areach of the firefighting fluid when exiting from the nozzle of themonitor. The controller may further factor in wind speed and winddirection when determining the reach of the fluid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front, elevational view of an illustrative monitor accordingto one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a side, elevational view of the monitor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial, exploded, perspective view of the monitor of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a front, elevational view of the monitor illustrating a rangeof pivoting motion of an outlet section of the monitor;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the monitor illustrating a range of pivotingmotion of an inlet section of the monitor;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of several control components of the monitor;and

FIG. 7 is an elevational diagram of an illustrative firefighting vehicleto which the monitor may be attached.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A firefighting monitor 20 according to one embodiment is illustrated inFIGS. 1-7. Monitor 20 includes a base 22, an inlet section 24, and anoutlet section 26. A nozzle 28 is attached to outlet section 26. Incombination, base 22, inlet section 24, and outlet section 26 define abody 30 having an internal fluid passageway 32 (FIG. 3). When monitor 20is used to combat a fire, firefighting fluid, such as, but not limitedto water, enters fluid passageway 32 from inlet section 24 and proceedsinto outlet section 26 before being discharged through nozzle 28. Aswill be discussed in greater detail below, by rotating sections 24 and26 in the appropriate manner, the angular orientation of the stream offirefighting fluid exiting nozzle 28 can be changed such that the streammay be appropriately aimed at the fire.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6, the rotation of inlet and outletsections 24 and 26 is carried out by a plurality of motors.Specifically, a first motor 34 is coupled to base 22 and a second motor36 is coupled to inlet section 26. First motor 34 selectively drives afirst worm gear assembly 38 that engages a first cylindrical arrangementof gear teeth 40 defined on the perimeter of inlet section 24 (FIG. 3).The driving of first motor 34 thus causes inlet section 24 to rotateabout a first axis 42. Second motor 36 selectively drives a second wormgear assembly 44 that engages a second cylindrical arrangement of gearteeth 40 defined on the perimeter of outlet section 26. The driving ofsecond motor 36 therefore causes outlet section 26 to rotate about asecond axis 48.

The pivoting of inlet and outlet sections 24 and 26 about first andsecond axes 42 and 48 is illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 4 and 5.While FIG. 4 shows outlet section 26 as being pivotable through a rangeof motion 50 of generally 140 degrees, and FIG. 5 shows inlet section 26as being pivotable through a range of motion 52 of generally 350degrees, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that theseranges may be varied. Indeed, in some embodiments, monitor 20 may beconstructed such that a full 360 degree range of rotation is availablefor either or both of inlet and outlet sections 24 and 26. Stillfurther, monitor 20, in some embodiments, may include only a singlepivotable section. In still other embodiments, monitor 20 may beconfigured without first and second motors 34 and 36, but may include awheel or other suitable structures for allowing manual rotation of firstand second sections 24 and 26 about first and second axes 42 and 48.

Each of motors 34 and 36 are connected by suitable communication cables54 and 56, respectively, to a control box 58. Control box 58 encloses acontroller 60 (FIG. 6) that, as will be discussed in greater detailbelow, controls the operation and movement of motors 34 and 36.Controller 60 communicates with motors 34 and 36 over cables 54 and 56,sending commands to motors 34 and 36 to rotate in a particulardirection. Motors 34 and 36, also may communicate with controller 60,transmitting data over cables 54 and 56 indicating the current positionto which inlet and outlet sections 24 and 26 have been rotated by motors34 and 36. Alternatively, a pair of rotation sensors 35 and 37 (FIG. 6)may communicate the current orientation of inlet and outlet sections 24and 26 to controller 60. Such rotation sensors 35 and 37 may be separatefrom motors 34 and 36, or they may be integrated within motors 34 and36.

Control box 58 includes an antenna 62 that may both receive and transmitdata wirelessly to and from controller 60. Data received by antenna 62and passed to controller 60 includes motor control commands transmittedby one or more wireless control units 64 (FIG. 6). The motor controlcommands indicate to controller 60 the manner in which it should rotateinlet and outlet sections 24 and 26 of monitor 20. Wireless control unit64 thereby allows a firefighter to remotely control the orientation ofmonitor 20, enabling the firefighter to aim the stream of firefightingfluid via control unit 64 from a location removed from the vicinity ofmonitor 20. While other types of wireless communication are possible,radio frequency (RF) communications between control box 58 and controlunit 64 may be used. Such radio frequency communications may enableremote control of controller 60 from locations a quarter mile or moreaway.

Control box 58 is also in communication with a nozzle controller 66(FIGS. 1 and 2). Nozzle controller 66 includes a motor that selectivelychanges the position of an internal component, such as a stem (notshown), that alters the shape of the beam or spray of fluid exitingnozzle 28. Nozzle controller 66 receives commands from control box 58dictating the setting to which nozzle 28 should be set. Nozzlecontroller 66 further sends data to control box 58 indicating thecurrent state of nozzle 28. From this information, controller 60 is ableto determine whether the firefighting fluid is exiting nozzle 28 as aspray or a stream, as well as the degree to which the spray pattern isbeing dispersed. Nozzle controller 66 and controller 60 communicate viaany suitable wire or wireless connection therebetween. Nozzle controller66 may also forward data to controller 60 indicating the orifice size ofnozzle 28. Alternatively, such orifice size information may be manuallyinput into control box 58 by a user through any suitable user interface,such as buttons, knobs, switches, etc. As will be discussed in greaterdetail below, controller 60 may use this orifice size, in conjunctionwith other information, to determine a reaction force from thefirefighting fluid flowing through nozzle 28, and/or a reach of thefluid.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, firefighting monitor 20 includes a firstpressure sensor 68 positioned generally near the junction of base 22 andinlet section 24, and a second pressure sensor 70 positioned generallynear the junction of outlet section 26 and nozzle 28. The positions ofboth first and second pressure sensors 68 and 70 can be variedsubstantially from that indicated in FIG. 3. First and second pressuresensors 68 and 70 measure the pressure of the firefighting fluid thatflows through passageway 32. The pressure measurements of sensors 68 and70 reflect the pressure of the fluid adjacent the location of each ofthe sensors 68 and 70. When firefighting fluid flows through passageway32 from inlet section 24 to outlet section 26 and out nozzle 28, thefluid pressure sensed by first sensor 68 will be greater than the fluidpressure sensed by second sensor 70 according to well-known principlesof fluid dynamics.

Each pressure sensor 68 and 70 repeatedly measures the pressure insidepassageway 32 and forwards the measurement results to controller 60inside control box 58. The frequency at which such measurements are madecan be varied. In at least some embodiments, the pressure measurementsare made multiple times per second. One or more wires, cables, orwireless transmitting and receiving means (not shown) may be used toforward the pressure measurements of sensors 68 and 70 to control box58.

Controller 60 uses the pressure measurements from sensors 68 and 70 todetermine the rate of flow of the firefighting fluid in passageway 32.Controller 60 determines the flow rate by calculating the differencebetween the pressure measurements of sensors 68 and 70 to yield thedelta pressure. The delta pressure information is then used inconjunction with Bernoulli's fluid flow equation, along with a frictionloss algorithm, to determine the flow rate of the firefighting fluid.The friction loss algorithm takes into account the known frictionalcharacteristics of a particular monitor. Such known frictionalcharacteristics may be stored within an electronic memory 72 housedwithin control box 58, which may be a flash memory, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, orany other suitable type of memory that may be read by controller 60. Theknown frictional characteristics may also take into account, to theextent it is significant, the current rotational orientations of inletand outlet sections 24 and 26. The mathematics involved in accountingfor the frictional losses of the monitor 20 on the fluid are known tothose of ordinary skill in the art, and need not be repeated herein.

The use of two pressure sensors 68 and 70 to calculate a delta pressureand the use of the calculated delta pressure information to determine aflow rate of the firefighting fluid allows for a more accuratedetermination of the flow rate of the fluid than prior art flow ratesensors. In the past, paddle wheel type flow rate sensors have beenused, and such paddle wheel sensors generally have not provided as muchaccuracy in their readings as is afforded by the combination of sensors68 and 70.

After determining the flow rate of fluid through monitor 20, controller60 may display this information on a display screen mounted to controlbox 58 (not shown), or it may display the flow rate information in otherways. In one embodiment, controller 60 transmits the flow rateinformation to a remote location, such as to a vehicle control panel 74,to wireless control unit 64, to both of these, or to still otherstructures (FIG. 6). The transmission may be wirelessly transmitted,such as through RF transmitter 76, or it may be a transmission forwardedto a wire connector 75, which passes the transmission on through a wireconnection 78. Wire connection 78 may comprise one or more cables orwires, and may include the appropriate wiring for a network connection,such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) or other type of network. Thevehicle control panel 74 may be mounted to a mobile firefighting vehicle80 (FIG. 7) and may include one or more suitable displays for visuallyenabling fire personnel to see or access the flow rate data.

Controller 60 also receives, as noted above, information from motors 34and 36 that allows controller 60 to determine the current angularorientation of inlet section 24 and outlet section 26. Such informationmay include an indication of the current position of each motor 36 and38, which may allow controller 60, in combination with predetermineddimensional data for worm gear assemblies 38 and 44, to compute thecurrent orientation of inlet section 24 and outlet section 26.Alternatively, such information may include a direct indication of thecurrent orientation of sections 24 and 26. Still further, suchinformation may include an indication of the total amount of rotation ofeither motors 34 and 36, or sections 24 and 26, from which controller 60is able to determine the current rotational orientation of sections 24and 26 by combining this information with a known starting position ofeither motors 34 and 36, sections 24 and 26, or a combination of thetwo.

From the knowledge of the current orientations of sections 24 and 26,along with the flow rate of fluid through monitor 20 and the size of theexit orifice of nozzle 28, controller 60 is able to calculate the amountand direction of the reaction force caused by the flow of the fluidthrough passageway 32. As was noted above, the orifice size of nozzle 28may be input manually into control box 58, and thus into controller 60,or it may be electronically transmitted to controller 60 from nozzlecontroller 66. Controller 60 may also utilize information about theposition of the nozzle stem in calculating the reaction force, to theextent a significant effect results.

The manner in which controller 60 may calculate the reaction forcecaused by the flow of fluid through monitor 60 may take on any knownmeans. Such calculations may be based upon information stored in memory72 relating to the specific configuration of monitor 20 and the mannerin which this specific configuration reacts to water flow. Or suchcalculations may be based upon empirical data stored in memory 72derived from prior testing of the monitor. Or, in still otherembodiments, the calculations may not involve any calculation at all,but rather may involve consulting a table stored in memory 72 thatmatches reaction forces together with the current values of the flowrate, nozzle size, and orientation of sections 24 and 26. A mixture ofany one or more of the techniques may also be used, as well as othermethods for determining the reactions forces.

The reaction force calculated by controller 60 indicates the currentamount of force that the flowing fluid is exerting on monitor 20.Controller 60 also calculates this force in at least one direction. Insome embodiments, controller 60 may calculate this force in multipledirections, up to three. The calculation of the reaction force maytherefore result in a one dimensional, two-dimensional, orthree-dimensional vector. The calculation of the reaction force isperformed repeatedly, such as, but not limited to, multiple times asecond in order to provide updated reaction force information thatdynamically adjusts to the potentially changing conditions of flow rateand/or monitor orientation.

FIG. 7 provides an illustration of the reaction force that may becalculated by controller 60. For purposes of ease of description, anarbitrary frame of reference 82 is indicated in FIG. 7 that includes anx-axis 84, a y-axis 86, and a z-axis 88. The x-axis 84 is generallyhorizontally aligned and parallel to the longitudinal extent offirefighting vehicle 80. The y-axis is also generally horizontal andperpendicularly oriented with respect to both the x-axis and thelongitudinal extent of vehicle 80. In FIG. 7, the y-axis extends intoand out of the page. The z-axis extends vertically and is perpendicularto both the y-axis and the x-axis. Controller 60 may calculate theamount of force exerted by the firefighting fluid along one or more ofthe axes of frame of reference 82. Alternatively, controller 60 maycalculate the reaction force using another frame of reference with adifferent angular alignment, or it may simply calculate an amount offorce in a single direction, such as, but not limited to, the verticaldirection.

Regardless of the particular form of the reaction force calculation,controller 60 is adapted to transmit the calculated force to anoff-board entity, such as the vehicle control panel 74, or the wirelesscontrol unit 64, or both, or still to some other entity which desirablyshould receive this information. As noted above, the transmission ofthis data may take place via RF transceiver 76, via wire connection 78,via both, or via other means. The receiver of the data may utilize thedata in any of multiple ways, including passing it on to other entities,such as a control structure.

According to one embodiment, vehicle control panel 74 is configured suchthat, when it receives the reaction force data from controller 60, ituses the data to control one or more aspects of the structure to whichthe monitor 20 is attached, such as by passing the data to an on-boardcontroller 100, or through other means. For example, in the illustrationof FIG. 7, vehicle control panel 74 is configured such that it uses thereaction force data it receives from controller 60 to control one ormore aspects of firefighting vehicle 80. The particular aspects that arecontrolled may be varied. In general, control panel 74, or othersuitable circuitry and/or control logic (e.g. controller 100) incommunication with control panel 74, will compare the reaction forcedata received from controller 62 to one or more criteria or thresholdsto determine if the reaction force has exceeded the criteria orthresholds. The criteria is generally safety related criteria specificto the particular structure to which monitor 70 is attached. Suchcriteria may define, for example, situations where the reaction forcecould create the possibility of tipping vehicle 80, damaging the boom 90on vehicle 80, or other undesirable situations.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the criteria to which the reactionforce data from controller 60 is compared is criteria relating to thesafe positioning of a boom 90. As shown in FIG. 7, boom 90 is extendableand retractable along its longitudinal axis in the direction indicatedby arrow 92. Boom 90 is also rotatable about a vertical axis 94, therebyallowing a platform 96 to be swung from a position behind vehicle 80 toa position in front of vehicle 80, as well as positions therebetweenalong the sides of vehicle 80. Because of the different rotationalpositions of boom 90, as well as the differing amounts of extension andretraction of boom 90 in the direction of arrow 92, different amountsand orientations of force will be exerted by boom 90 onto vehicle 80.These different amounts of force will be effected by the reaction forceof the fluid flowing through monitor 20. That is, the amount of strainboom 90 will exert on vehicle 80 will vary depending upon the amount offluid flowing through monitor 20 and the direction the fluid is beingdischarged.

In the past, manufacturers of firefighting vehicles, such as vehicle 80,have often limited the range of motion of boom 90 in which firefightingfluid may be expelled from a monitor positioned atop the boom because ofthe possibility that the reaction force of the fluid through the monitormay create an unsafe situation, such as tipping of the vehicle, or anamount of force that is otherwise undesirable. Such unsafe orundesirable situations typically depend upon the amount of extension ofboom 90, as well as the particular angular rotation of boom 90 aboutvertical axis 94. Given a particular orientation and extension of boom90, the manufacturer of a prior art firefighting vehicle would oftenconfigure control panel 74, or other internal control components onvehicle 80, such that fluid could not be delivered to a monitorpositioned atop boom 90. Thus, prior art firefighting vehicles haveoften included certain blackout orientations and positions in which theboom, or other structure to which the monitor is mounted, is notpermitted to allow for the discharge of firefighting fluid.

According to at least some embodiments, the present improved monitor 20enables such blackout conditions to be either reduced or eliminated. Bycalculating the current amount of reaction force generated by theflowing firefighting fluid and transmitting it to a suitable receiver onboard vehicle 80, such as, but not limited to control panel 74, acontroller 100 on board vehicle 74 is able to take a more variedresponse in boom situations that might have previously resulted in ablackout condition (FIG. 7). If the current reaction force of monitor 20and the current configuration of boom 90 meet one or more predeterminedconditions or criteria, controller 100 may do one or more of thefollowing: (1) it may automatically reduce the flow of fluid beingdelivered to monitor 20 until the predetermined conditions or criteriaare no longer met; (2) it may automatically move boom 90, or any otherstructure to which monitor 20 is attached, until the conditions are nolonger met; (3) it may send a signal to controller 60 instructing it torotate one or both of first sections 24 and/or 26 in a manner that willremedy the conditions; (4) it may issue a warning to the user or usersof monitor 20 that the conditions have been met; and/or (5) it may takeother appropriate measures too.

When responding to the calculated reaction force by automaticallyreducing the flow of fluid, controller 100 communicates with whateverother controllers, actuators, and/or other sensors that are necessaryfor it to carry out the reduction in the fluid flow. By automaticallyreducing the fluid flow, the reaction force in monitor 20 will likewisediminish. Once a suitable reduction in the reaction force has beenachieved, controller 100 will allow fluid to flow through monitor 20 atthe acceptable rate. This enables firefighting vehicle 80 to stilldeliver fluid at a particular boom configuration, but automaticallycontrols the fluid flow such that unsafe, or otherwise undesirable,conditions are not encountered. The complete blackout conditions of theprior art are therefore either eliminated or reduced, thereby improvingthe utility of the firefighting vehicle 80.

As noted above, controller 100 aboard vehicle 80 may alternatively reactto high reaction forces by automatically moving boom 90 to aconfiguration in which the current reaction forces within monitor 20 nolonger meet the predetermined criteria. As but one example, boom 80 mayautomatically retract when excessive reaction forces are encountered,thereby reducing the moment arm of boom 90, and, as a result, reducingthe amount of torque that the reaction force of monitor 20 may beexerting on the supporting structure for boom 90 and/or vehicle 80.Situations where the reaction forces may encroach undesirably close to atipping danger of vehicle 80 may therefore be avoided. In addition toautomatic extension aid/or reaction of boom 90, controller 100 may alsobe programmed, or otherwise configured, to make rotational movements ofboom 90 about axis 94 in order to alleviate situations where thereaction forces inside monitor 20 are greater than desired.

In a similar manner, controller 100 may also react to excessive reactionforces by sending appropriate commands to controller 60 inside controlbox 58 that instruct controller 60 to change the rotational orientationof one or both of inlet and outlet sections 24 and 26. As has beendiscussed above, controller 60 accomplishes this by activating theappropriate first or second motor 34 and 36 in the appropriate directionand for the appropriate duration. The instructions transmitted bycontroller 100 may specifically indicate the direction and amount ofrotation of each section 24, 26, or the instructions transmitted bycontroller 100 may simply instruct controller 60 to determine thecorrect rotational response to the current amount of reaction force—inwhich case controller 60 will have access to sufficient computationalresources to determine the specific rotational requirements. In eithercase, sections 24 and/or 26 of monitor 20 will be rotated in a mannerthat adjusts the fluidic reaction forces in such a manner that themagnitude and/or orientation of the reaction forces is sufficientlychanged or reduced.

Either in lieu of, or in addition to, any of the foregoing reactions toexcessive reaction forces, controller 100 may issue one or more alertsto firefighting personnel. Such alerts may be issued on a display screenmounted on control panel 74, through one or more lights on vehicle 80,through a transmission to control box 58, or through any other suitablemeans that will provide an indication to the firefighting personnel thatthe reaction forces in monitor 20 have met one or more criteria whichthe firefighting personnel should be aware of. Depending upon thespecific parameters defined in the criteria, the firefighting personnelmay make adjustments to boom 80, the fluid flow to monitor 20, or anyother component in the overall firefighting system. In some situations,the alert issued to the firefighting personnel may simply beinformational, in which case no specific action is required by thefirefighting personnel. In other cases, the firefighting personnel maybe expected to take specific measures in response to the alert. Stillfurther, in some embodiments, controller 100 may be configured to wait acertain amount of time after issuing the alert and, if no reaction hasbeen manually undertaken by the firefighting personnel, controller 100may automatically take one or more appropriate reactions.

The choice and definition of the criteria to which controller 60 willinstitute one or more of the foregoing reactions can be varied widely.In some embodiments, the criteria may specify that reaction forces inmonitor 20 above a certain magnitude and/or direction are unacceptablefor particular boom configurations. In other situations, the criteriamay define a sufficient margin of safety such that when the criteria ismet, there is still sufficient time for the appropriate actions and/orreactions to be undertaken before an unsafe or undesirable condition isencountered. In still other situations, the criteria may specify anytype configuration or status information for which it is desirable toinitiate a suitable reaction from either controller 60 or controller100.

As was noted above, the comparison of the reaction force and/ororientation data of monitor 20 with the predetermined criteria may takeplace within, or under the control of, controller 100, or some othercontrol circuitry positioned on firefighting vehicle 80. In analternative embodiment, this comparison may be performed by controller60 of monitor 20. Controller 60 may perform this in any of a variety ofdifferent manners. As one example, a data file of the criterion, orcriteria, may be uploaded to memory 72 of controller 60 indicating whichconfigurations and/or reaction force levels are to be monitored, andwhat the numerical constrains are for monitoring these parameters. Theparticular criterion or criteria that is uploaded may depend upon thetype of vehicle to which monitor 20 is mounted, as well as otherfactors. If controller 60 determines that its current orientation and/orflow rate and nozzle size meet one or more of the uploaded criteria, itmay itself take appropriate action, or it may transmit a signal tocontroller 100—or other controller—on-board the vehicle, or anycombination of these actions.

In performing the various functions described above, controller 100 isapprised of the position and mounting orientation of monitor 20 onplatform 96. Controller 100 may receive this information during aninitial calibration of controller 100, or during an initial calibrationof monitor 20. Such information may be entered manually through anysuitable user-interface for controller 100 or controller 60. Controller100 is also programmed to be able to accept the reaction forcecalculations from controller 60 in the frame of reference utilized bycontroller 60, such as frame of reference 82. That is, controller 100 isprogrammed to be able to convert the force measurements defined in frameof reference 82 to force measurements defined in another frame ofreference, if desired, or controller 100 may continue to utilize theforce measurements in the same frame of reference used by controller 60.

Controller 100 is also configured to be in communication with one ormore conventional sensors (not shown) on-board firefighting vehicle 80that indicate the current orientation of boom 90 about vertical axis 94,as well as one or more sensors indicating the amount ofextension/retraction of boom 90 in direction 92. From this information,along with the known mounting position of monitor 20 to boom 90,controller 100 is able to determine the forces being exerted on boom 90and/or vehicle 80 due to the flow of fluid through monitor 20. Vehicle80 may also be equipped, in some embodiments, with a weight sensor (notshown) positioned to determine the weight of one or more individualsstanding on platform 96. If so equipped, controller 100 may receive thisinformation and use it, along with the fluid reaction force data, todetermine if one or more criteria are being met, such as, but notlimited to, safety criteria.

In some situations, more than one monitor 20 may be mounted to aparticular structure, such as, but not limited to, boom 90. Monitor 20therefore may include, in at least some embodiments, an input on controlbox 58 for connecting a wired or wireless transmission medium to thecontrol box 58 of another monitor 20. Such an input is configured toreceive the reaction forces calculated by the other monitor. The monitorreceiving these reaction forces is programmed to add these reactionforces to its own calculated reaction forces and to output the combinedreaction forces to a remote receiver, such as control panel 74, controlbox 58, or other entity. Thus, if two monitors 20 were mounted to boom90, for example, the controller 60 of one monitor would sum the reactionforces of both monitors together—taking into account any geometricaldifferences in their mounting locations—before transmitting the reactionforce to control panel 74 and/or controller 100. In such a situation,both monitors 20 could alternatively send their individual reactionforce calculations to control panel 74 and/or controller 100, whichwould then sum the two forces together and take any appropriate actionbased upon the sum total of their reaction forces.

Controller 60 of monitor 20 may also, in some embodiments, determine areach of the firefighting fluid. This determination of reach may be inlieu of, or in addition to, the calculation of the reaction force of thefirefighting fluid. Controller 60 determines the reach based upon thetype of nozzle attached to monitor 20 and the flow rate of thefirefighting fluid. In some embodiments, a wind speed and wind directionsensor 102 (FIG. 7) that is positioned within the general vicinity ofmonitor 20 may feed wind direction and speed information to controller60. Controller 60 may use this wind speed and wind direction informationin determining the reach of the firefighting fluid. Whether or not thewind speed and direction are factored into the reach calculations,controller 60 may output the reach determination in one or more manners.The reach determination may be indicated on an LCD screen on control box58. Alternatively, the reach determination may be forwarded to either orboth of RF transceiver 76 and/or wire connector 75 for further wirelessor wired transmission to control unit 64, vehicle control panel 74,controller 100, or any other suitable electronic structure for which thereceipt of such reach information would be desirable. A display screen,gauge, or other device positioned on vehicle 80 can then display thereach determination for assisting the firefighting personnel. Such adisplay may, in some embodiments, display a three-dimensional sweeppattern using the reach data and data indicating the absolute positionof the monitor 20.

In the various embodiments discussed above, controllers 60 and 100 maytake on a variety of different forms. Controllers 60 and 100 may includeone or more processors, microprocessors, system on chip (SoC) integratedcircuits, microcontrollers, discrete logic, and/or other electroniccomponents and devices suitable for carrying out the functions describedabove, as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art. One ormore such devices may also be combined together in carrying out thefunctions described herein. If multiple components are used, they may begeographically dispersed or localized. For example, all of controller60's components may be located inside control box 60, or some of themmay be housed therein while some of them are located remotely, such ason-board vehicle 80. In a like manner, all of controller 100'scomponents may be located on-board vehicle 80, or some may be positionedremotely. The logic for carrying out the functions described herein maybe implemented via software, firmware, or any other suitable means.Controller 100 and/or control panel 74 may be in communication with theengine governor on-board vehicle 80 and may coordinate with the enginegovernor in carrying-out one or more of the functions described herein.

While the foregoing embodiments of monitor 20 have been describedprimarily with respect to a situation in which monitor 20 is mounted tothe boom of vehicle 80, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that the control principles described herein are not limited to suchsituations. Rather, the embodiments described herein may be practiced onportable monitors, as well as monitors connected to fixed structures.

While several forms of the invention have been shown and described,other forms will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, itwill be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings anddescribed above are merely for illustrative purposes, and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention which is defined by theclaims which follow as interpreted under the principles of patent lawincluding the doctrine of equivalents.

1. A firefighting monitor comprising: a body having an inlet forreceiving firefighting fluid and an outlet for discharging thefirefighting fluid, said body including a tubular section rotatableabout an axis; a rotation sensor for measuring an amount of rotation ofsaid tubular section about said axis; a flow rate detector fordetermining a rate of flow of the firefighting fluid through the bodyfrom the inlet to the outlet; and a controller in communication withsaid rotation sensor and said flow rate detector, said controlleradapted to determine an amount of force exerted by the firefightingfluid onto the body in at least one direction based upon informationfrom said rotation sensor and said flow rate detector.
 2. The monitor ofclaim 1 further including a transmitter in communication with saidcontroller, said controller adapted to use said transmitter to transmitto a remote receiver the amount of force exerted by the firefightingfluid.
 3. The monitor of claim 1 wherein: said body includes a secondtubular section rotatable about a second axis; said monitor includes asecond rotation sensor for measuring an amount of rotation of saidsecond tubular section about said second axis; and said controller is incommunication with said second rotation, and said controller determinesuses information-from said second rotation sensor to determine theamount of force exerted by the firefighting fluid onto the body.
 4. Themonitor of claim 1 wherein said flow rate detector comprises a firstpressure sensor and a second pressure sensor spaced apart from saidfirst pressure sensor, both said first and second pressure sensorspositioned inside said body and in fluid communication with thefirefighting fluid flowing therein.
 5. The monitor of claim 4 whereinsaid controller calculates flow rate based upon outputs from both saidfirst and second pressure sensors.
 6. The monitor of claim 1 whereinsaid controller determines the amount of said force in at least twomutually perpendicular directions.
 7. The monitor of claim 1 whereinsaid controller is housed within an enclosure in physical contact withsaid body.
 8. The monitor of claim 1 wherein said controller is housedwithin an enclosure positioned remotely from said body.
 9. The monitorof claim 8 wherein said controller is further adapted to move a mobileboom to which said monitor is coupled based upon the determined amountof force.
 10. The monitor of claim 8 wherein said controller is furtheradapted to adjust at least one of an orientation of said monitor and aflow rate of fluid flowing through said monitor in response to saidamount of force exceeding a threshold.
 11. The monitor of claim 1further including a memory accessible by said controller, said memorycontaining data relating to one or more dimensions of said monitor,wherein said controller is adapted to use said data in determining saidamount of force.
 12. The monitor of claim 1 wherein said controller isadapted to determine said amount of force multiple times per second. 13.The monitor of claim 1 wherein said controller is further adapted toreceive information pertaining to a nozzle orifice size and a nozzleposition and to use said information to determine a reach of thefirefighting fluid when exiting from a nozzle of the monitor.
 14. Themonitor of claim 13 wherein said controller is further adapted toreceive information pertaining to wind speed and wind direction and touse said information to determine the reach of the firefighting fluidfrom the monitor nozzle. 15-21. (canceled)
 22. A method of controlling afirefighting monitor comprising: providing a monitor coupled to astructure, said monitor including a plurality of sections rotatable withrespect to each other; determining a flow rate of firefighting fluidflowing through said monitor; determining an amount of force exerted bythe flowing firefighting fluid on the monitor in at least one direction;and determining if the amount of force meets a criterion and, if theamount of force does meet the criterion, doing at least one of thefollowing: rotating at least one of the sections of the monitor untilsaid amount of force no longer meets the criterion; reducing the flow offirefighting fluid through said monitor until said amount of force nolonger meets the criterion; moving said structure until said amount offorce no longer meets the criterion; and providing a warning to a userof the firefighting monitor that said criterion has been met.
 23. Themethod of claim 22 wherein said criterion correlates maximum acceptableamounts of force to one or more directions of the force.
 24. The methodof claim 23 wherein said structure is a moveable boom mounted to amobile firefighting vehicle.
 25. The method of claim 24 wherein saiddetermining of a flow rate of firefighting fluid flowing through saidmonitor includes: providing a first pressure sensor adapted to detect apressure of the firefighting fluid within said monitor at a firstlocation; providing a second pressure sensor adapted to detect apressure of the firefighting fluid within said monitor at a secondlocation different :from said first location; and using a differencebetween said pressures detected by said first and second pressuresensors to determine the flow rate of firefighting fluid flowing throughsaid monitor.